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The Lead

A new committee being developed by the Canada Energy Regulator is looking to recruit Indigenous people to play a “key advisory role” and is expected to hire up to seven individuals, three of which will be chosen by the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Métis National Council.

“Obviously the courts in the past have ruled that the relationship was not robust enough and the consultations had to be redone, et cetera,” said Cassie Doyle, a chairperson for regulator’s new board of directors, noting that the organization is dedicated to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

The Indigenous Advisory Committee will “be able to provide us with wise counsel and advice around how we’re doing in terms of changing the relationship and essentially, how are we going to be a regulator that is promoting reconciliation,” Doyle explained.

The role of the regulator is to participate in a review process of energy project proposals and makes suggestions on how to improve or alter the project before it receives the go-ahead from cabinet.

Canadian crude oil has found a new export market in China as that country’s demand for the commodity begins to rise again. According to Bloomberg, Canada shipped its third crude tanker to China this year and Alaska shipped its second tanker in less than a two-month period this past weekend. This is unusual for Canadian and Alaskan oil, which is usually used to supply oil refineries based in California and Washington State through the Trans Mountain pipeline.

The transportation of Canadian and Alaskan oil to the U.S. West Coast has recently faltered as a result of social distancing and lockdown measures implemented by states, but China has begun to reopen its economy, having first went on lockdown in February.

Meanwhile, a blockade to Manitoba Hydro’s Keeyask construction has been implemented by Fox Lake Cree Nation, which is attempting to protect its community from COVID-19. The blockade is intended to stop the shift change of workers as the hydro company is seeking to replace the current 600 workers on site with 1,000 new workers.

Fox Lake Cree Nation also announced a state of emergency and put its community in lockdown yesterday as a response to the spread of the virus.

The development of renewable energy infrastructure is expected to slow at a global level for the first time in two decades due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Findings from the IEA show that global renewable energy will only grow by 6 per cent in 2020, which is 13 per cent less than in 2019. According to the agency, Europe will see a particularly high drop in their renewable energy capacity, and will see new projects drop by around one third.